Amazon To Raise Price Of Prime Membership

Amazon plans to raise the prices of its annual and monthly Prime subscriptions.

The company announced it will increase its annual Prime subscriptions from $119 to $139, as well as its monthly subscription from $12.99 to $14.99, while sharing its earnings report on Thursday (February 3), CNN reports.

The company said the planned changes are due to its "expanded Prime membership benefits," which will include more Prime Video content and expanded free same-day shipping, as well as an effort to compensate for the rising cost of labor and transportation within its delivery service.

Amazon also said it raised wages for thousands of workers last year amid a recent inflation rise.

The annual Prime membership cost had previously increased from $99 to $119 in 2018 and the latest upcharge represents a 17% increase.

The price changes will go into effect for new Prime members on February 18, while existing users will see a change after March 25.

Amazon also reported its profits doubled during the December end quarter to total $14.3 billion, which was significantly higher than Wall Street analysts expected.

The spike comes amid the company's recent investment in Rivian Automotive, an electric vehicle company, which had the biggest initial public offering since Facebook ($16 billion in 2012) upon its Wall Street debut in November, originally pricing its stock above the expected range at $78 apiece and raising an estimated $11.9 billion.